1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a Registry System based on portable information borne by an animal for the animal's location and emergency information, reception/holding/treatment and payment authorization, the Registry System being accessible by at least one Communication Method which term (“Communication Method” or “Communication Methods”) as used herein means telephone, wireless device, Website/Internet, broadcast television, cable television, fiber optic equipment, computer, pager, facsimile, cell phone, two-way radio, FM radio, AM radio, short wave radio, microwave device, U.S. Postal Service, private postal service, private delivery service, private messenger, e-mail equipment, PDA (Personal Digital/Data Assistant), telephony (the term “telephony” is defined to mean herein means for communicating using voice, telephone equipment, and computers together), other Internet equipment, Website equipment, code, and satellite. Provision is made for rewarding users of the Registry System.
2. Description of Related Art
There are some 100,000,000 dogs and cats in the United States and there are some 28,000 veterinary practices. Almost all animal owners fear losing their animals, especially animal companions, either to an accident or to an animal shelter. All animals can stray away, become lost, possibly injured, throughout their lifetimes. More than 80 percent of missing and lost cats and dogs never return. Most taken to shelters are euthanazed.
There exist many approaches to identifying animals: photographs, branding, tattooing, noseprints, tags, and bodily insertions. There is at least one existing system and one published patent application for locating the owners of animals and providing veterinary, medication, health history, and other information that is supported by a database of animal-related information and is both telephone and Internet accessible, see the world wide web at mypetid.ca and U.S. Patent Application 2002/0116390, published Aug. 22, 2002, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. MyPetID is an existing system that focuses on pet identification and providing pet information. MyPetID only provides a receiving/holding/treating veterinarian with information as to whether or not a found pet has insurance. MyPetId does not provide a receiving/holding/treating veterinarian with authorization to receive/hold/treat a pet and authorization for payment for this reception/holding/treatment by any payment method. The system and method of the recently published U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0116390, differs from the present invention in that the referenced application focuses on pet shops as the point of entry into a pet identification service whereas the present invention is centered on veterinarians as the point of entry into the system. The system and method of the recently published U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0116390 also lacks, among other things, authorization for reception/holding/treatment by a veterinarian and a method for, and authorization of, payment for reception/holding/treatment. Finally, unlike any available or published pet location system, the system and method of the present invention can offer a reward as an incentive to animal finders to use the Registry System to obtain reception/holding/treatment from any veterinarian for a found animal and can provide information concerning a found animal to the animal's owner.